Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Kindergarten 2009-2010

Never thought of it that way and looking back DS was probably being more challenged in pre-school as they knew him better and he had the flexibility to select his own tasks for most of the day where-as when he hit school and he had to do the 'baby' work that he had nailed in pre and couldn't self select to keep himself occupied that was when we hit the boredom problems...

Yes. Pre-K was a good fit for both my kids even though they weren't accelerated at all. But a half-day of self-selected activities means they get more or less what they need out of it. A full day of "sit down and do what I tell you" is frustrating.

When I ask, "What did you learn today in K?' DS5 is already responding "I don't LEARN anything in K, Mommy."

We are in the same boat! K for my ds5 goes until 1 pm and it is dreadful for him. The only activities that make it bearable for him are the specials like music and yoga (a parent volunteer teaches it).

His previous experience is 2 and a half years of self-selected (mont.), so the "sit down and and color in the lines like I tell you" got old pretty quickly.

and judging by the work he brings home and what he tells me, he is also not learning anything new at school.

DH and I are still supplementing at home. tried talking to the teacher but she is not receptive.

Oh, Kriston, I get that too even though it is language immersion. He says it's too hard and it's boring, all in the same sentence.

And here is a lesson learned from our family: one of the original points that we were making with the school is that we would have been more okay with going into K if it was full day. Yeah, I look back at that and think "wow I was really off base on that one!"

JB

So true. This year DS5 would have been starting K. It was half day in our district last year, but this year they went to full day. When they went to full day I knew he should go to first...but if it was half day, we probably would have done K and then skipped to second. We are having a meeting on Thursday in part due to DS5 acting out in his first grade class (talking out of turn, not raising his hand, not following directions). Nothing surprising I suppose based on how simple a lot of the stuff is, but it's hard because it's still not appropriate behavior. DS says he likes school (mostly lunch, recess, and gym), but he just started talking to me about how hard it is to sit through single digit addition and watching the teacher teach other kids how to read. He says that he hasn't even read in class yet. That's pretty sad because he really enjoys reading. Thankfully the psychologist who tested him will be coming to our meeting to advocate for his needs too. They have done no subject acceleration as they were waiting for behaviors to improve and wanted to wait a month for him to adjust to the routine. LOL, some people are well intended but just don't get it. Anyhow, I am thankful we will now have support through DYS and the psychologist/educational consultant that tested DS5 because I think we are going to need it.

Yeah, I always love that one: "waiting for behaviors to improve." sigh.

I too agree that half-day K is much easier than a full-day program and not only for gifted students. I don't even agree with the length of the day for the rest of the elementary classes in US. Where I am originally from the school day lasts from 8 to 12 in the 1st grade, in the 2nd grade you may go two days till 1 p.m., in the 3rd you may add another day till 1. The number of hours spent at school slowly builds up. You never see 1st grader spending as much time at school as a high school student.

Kids need to play and have free time, lots of it. They even need to get bored here and there. Spending more time at school doesn't guarantee better education. I would go as far as saying that more is less in this case.

One of the reasons our older one went to a private Montessori was that they offered half-day K. Unfortunately even that wasn't a solution for us. After a month he started acting out at home big time. By November he was asking to be homeschooled. I don't even want to think what a full day program with no accommodations would do to him.

That's brilliant and I totally agree.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts. Keep 'em coming!

I wanted to update you on our situation.

As you may remember, dd5 is in a private, gifted school.

I had great fears over the summer that dd would be silly or otherwise "throw" the kindergarten placement screening. It appears my fears were unfounded.

The differentiation has already begun in reading and math. All I know is that she is in the "most challenging" math group according to her teacher. And that her reading group consists of only two children (there are six different, ability-grouped reading groups in her class of 20 kids). We got a note from the teacher saying while other parents may be discussing sight word lists, there was no need to send any home for dd5 because she was, "...reading above the 2nd grade level." So that seems promising.

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure that dd is being "challenged" yet. I think she can do more than she's being asked to in both reading and math. But she seems happy and since we're less than a month into the school year, so am I.